Court of Ambition
Court of Ambition: Enchantment, Commander Legends. When this enchantment enters, you become the monarch. Printings, prices, and format legality on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {2}{B}{B}
- Mana value
- 4
- Type
- Enchantment
- Colour identity
- Black (B)
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Commander Legends (CMR)
- Released
- 2020-11-20
- Collector number
- 114
- Artist
- Ravenna Tran
- Commander rank
- 2,481 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Build around this card with Grover
About Court of Ambition
Court of Ambition is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black enchantment from Commander Legends (CMR), a draft-focused set released in November 2020. It is collector number 114 in that set, with art by Ravenna Tran. It costs {2}{B}{B} (two generic and two black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 4. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander and Oathbreaker. It has been printed in 3 sets, from The List (2020) to Commander Legends (2020). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $6.26 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-03).
Card text
When this enchantment enters, you become the monarch.
At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent loses 3 life unless they discard a card. If you're the monarch, instead each opponent loses 6 life unless they discard two cards.
Watch your step.
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $6.26 (as of 2026-11-03).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Court of Ambition by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Legacy | Legal |
|---|---|
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
Other printings of Court of Ambition
Court of Ambition has been printed in 3 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The List (PLST) #CMR-114 | Rare | 2026 |
| Magic Online Promos (PRM) #85978 | Rare | 2020 |
| Commander Legends (CMR) #645 | Rare | 2020 |
Official rulings
Six official rulings apply to Court of Ambition, newest first.
- The game starts with no monarch. Once an effect makes one player the monarch, the game will have exactly one monarch from that point forward. As a player becomes the monarch, the current monarch (if any) ceases being the monarch.
- If the triggered ability that causes the monarch to draw a card goes on the stack and a different player becomes the monarch before that ability resolves, the first player will still draw the card.
- There are two inherent triggered abilities associated with being the monarch. These triggered abilities have no source and are controlled by the player who was the monarch at the time the abilities triggered. The full texts of these abilities are "At the beginning of the monarch's end step, that player draws a card" and "Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch."
- If combat damage dealt to the monarch causes that player to lose the game, the triggered ability that causes the controller of the attacking creature to become the monarch doesn't resolve. In most cases, the controller of the attacking creature will still become the monarch as it is likely their turn.
- If the monarch leaves the game during another player's turn, that player becomes the monarch. If the monarch leaves the game during their turn, the next player in turn order becomes the monarch.
- As Court of Ambition's second ability resolves, first the next opponent in turn order chooses whether they are discarding or not. If they are, they choose a card without revealing it (or two cards without revealing them, if you're the monarch), then each other opponent in turn order does the same. Then each chosen card is discarded simultaneously, and finally each player who couldn't or didn't discard loses the appropriate amount of life.
Similar cards
Other enchantment cards with a black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.
Mentioned in these guides
These guides mention Court of Ambition.